MASYAP Art Workshop

During the half-term break, sisters Imaan and Ariana in Years 12 and 9, went to Malawi to be part of an amazing project that supports HIV/AIDs female patients. 

They made a short film and also tell us about why they wanted to help.  We are very proud of their efforts and would like to share this with you.

In the October half-term we went to Malawi and ran a one day art workshop for MASYAP, a charity that supports women and girls affected by HIV/AIDs in southern Malawi. MASYAP has a youth program so we wanted to share our love of art with the girls, especially since we are a similar age to them and grew up in Malawi and in the same town (Blantyre), but with very different and more privileged lives. We managed to raise over £240 pounds from friends and family to buy art supplies. These included acrylic paint, canvasses, brushes, sketchbooks and pencils. The Charters Art Department was very supportive and generously donated more pencils, brushes, felt pens and oil pastels, as well as knitted blankets which we gave to women who have recently had a child.

The girls were split into two groups and I (Imaan) gave a painting tutorial of Lake Malawi and a sketching tutorial of a flower. A local TV crew turned up to film and said they wanted to share such a positive story because usually the charity receives medical and food support but supporting creativity and wellbeing is also very important. The paintings and sketches the girls created were wonderful and inspiring, especially as it was the first time many of them had picked up a brush or sketching pencil. They were excited about keeping all the art supplies and we hope it will encourage them to continue to create- they certainly seemed determine to!

We’re thankful to everyone who donated and to the art department for their contribution and encouragement.

Well done to Imaan and Ariana for embodying our ethos of Unity Respect Excellence and thank you to the Art Department for your donations and support.